NOVPUBUnder the eaves, Gloria single-handedly supported the dark brown lacquered wooden door frame.
"Come in."
She maintained the indifference of a senior sister, casually letting the two in.
After closing the door, Gloria quickly ran to Sigrid with a hint of worry, her teary eyes as if she had been longing for her for a long time.
Such a skilful change of face made Lanci think that she was indeed brought up by Sigrid.
"Mr. Bishop, are you okay?"
"Not so good, but Asksan is also suffering the same."
Sigrid responded briefly, she did not hide anything from Gloria. As a martial artist of the same lineage, Gloria should be very clear about her current state of energy.
Gloria looked at Sigrid and the Saint Heir in surprise.
Although the bishop has not told her in detail where the two of them have been for more than a month, the mere hints are enough to give her an information overload.
In the living room, Gloria invited Sigrid and Lanci to sit on the sofa while she stood nearby like an attendant.
Sigrid gracefully sat on the sofa. Her posture maintained her usual lazy dominance, while Lanci naturally sat on the other side of the same sofa.
This caused Gloria to want to say something, but she abruptly held her tongue.
Though no saint or saintess under any Cardinal Bishop had ever dared to sit on an equal footing with the bishop so arrogantly, Gloria realised that as a student, she shouldn’t teach the principal what to do.
Subsequently, Gloria, with appropriate servant etiquette, pulled the heavy dark floor-length curtains of the living room. When she came back, her eyes were hard to conceal her anxious worry.
"Mr. Bishop, you’re finally back."
The spacious living room became a private space for the three to communicate. The soundproof magitools isolated the noise from the outside world, providing a quiet background for the upcoming conversation.
"What happened?"
Sigrid asked with a confused frown. Indeed, she and the Saint Heir had left for a long time, but it seemed there were no significant problems in the imperial capital at present.
"In the more than a month since you left, a lot of changes have occurred in the southern part of Protoss."
Gloria sat on another sofa, her face evidently not quite right,
"You have been accused by the Imperial Army. They suspect you have committed a large-scale massacre in the north and cruelly tortured many imperial residents on the run."
Gloria took out the information and intelligence summaries which she had gathered from the Hegemony Branch in recent days from the hidden layer beneath the coffee table.
Besides various investigation evidences and clear signs of the Hegemony Bishop’s battle from the North Border Province, there were also some remnants of recording crystal stones.
From these images, it seemed as if the Bishop of Hegemony was destroying the town and killing residents indiscriminately, while the Bishop of Nirvana was desperately defending and protecting the town.
"Now there are various evidences proving that the Hegemony Bishop has gone to the North Border Province and found Asksan in the city-state to start a series of battles that disregard the safety of the residents and can be called massacres."
Gloria added with a pale face.
Many people knew about the long-standing enmity between the Bishop of Hegemony and the Bishop of Nirvana, but this was the first time they had fought so freely within the city-state of the Empire.
Since the North Border frontline was where Askasan was stationed, it must have been Sigrid who went over proactively and started this battle.
Meanwhile, the branches of the Hegemony Church across the Protoss Empire were all overwhelmed.
The reputation of the Rebirth Church is already poor, and if there is a chance to criticize the Rebirth Church, many of the high officials and nobles of the empire will not miss it.
As the saying goes, when the wall falls, everyone pushes. Once a chink is opened, the enemy’s enemies will rush up in swarms.
The martial artists of the Hegemony Branch in the south who had been somewhat recognized, once again faced unprecedented marginalization, with an increasing intention to expel them. The martial artists of the Hegemony Branch have already embarked on the path of shared prosperity with the residents and can no longer take a tough attitude towards them. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
Loss of trust is the most fatal thing for their development direction.
"Asksan..."
Sigrid was flipping through the news reports day by day, her face gradually becoming stern.
Asksan probably contacted the capital directly after the battle, started to distort the facts, blocked all her paths, and even tried to completely wipe out the existence of the Hegemony Branch.
If she and the Saint Heir are successfully caught by the Nirvana Branch in the north, Asksan’s next step might be to dispatch all its main forces to the south to hunt down the priests of the Hegemony Branch.
"Many have disguised themselves as our priests from the Nirvana Branch or other forces intentionally hurting residents, and some have disguised themselves as residents intentionally instigating conflicts. In short, many places have been affected, and they seized this opportunity to constantly defame our priests of the Hegemony Branch, and we even lost many colleagues."
Gloria’s expression was full of both hatred and bitterness, but she could only talk about it helplessly.
Although the veracity of these events is still subject to judgment and verification for the empire, for the residents, public opinion is everything they see.
With the Nirvana Branch adding fuel to the fire, the pressure was already swarming in like a tsunami.
They knew it was a battle of public opinion and that the Nirvana Branch was plotting everything, but with even the Bishop of Hegemony, who was targeted, absent, the priests of the Hegemony Branch found it difficult to fight back and could only try to prevent things from getting worse, praying for the quick return of the Bishop of Hegemony.
Gloria knew that Mr. Bishop didn’t harm innocent people in the city-states impulsively, but it has evolved into this situation now. Even if the truth were Asksan’s conspiracy, they had no way to defend themselves.
Sigrid put down the paper in her hand, a calmness in her eyes that seemed to represent an unprecedented rage, and a murderous aura that made Gloria next to her shudder.
Even though the Bishop’s strength was noticeably weaker than hers, yet that refined spirit and will always made her feel like a little girl in front of him.
"Don’t worry, Sikder, I’m by your side."
Lanci’s gentle voice penetrated Sigrid’s wild thoughts.
She looked at Lanci in astonishment, and the murderous intent on her dissipated instantly.
Lanci’s face was as calm as always, he nodded at her, making her unconsciously feel at ease instantly.
His steady emerald eyes give a feeling of extreme reliability, making her feel that as long as this man was by her side, he could solve all problems for her.
"If Asksan thinks he has the upper hand now, wouldn’t it be all the better?"
Lanci leaned back on the couch, naturally smiling, as if running towards Asksan.
"...You’re not afraid that Asksan won’t dare to come to the capital for the election in a week, are you?"
Sigrid looked at him, squinting.
In the previous three-way defeat in the north, both Asksan, the Bishop of Nirvana, and the man in the black cloak failed to recognize the true identity of the Saint of Hegemony.
Normally, the Saint Heir and Saintess of the Rebirth Church should have been shady figures right before, and their real social identity would not have been too noticeable, so it would have been impossible to have much influence in the empire.
This place should have been an absolutely neutral territory that wouldn’t favor any of Nirvana, Hegemony, or Mourning branches.
But Asksan did not expect one thing—
This Saint of Hegemony is none other than Rocky McCarthy, a highly topical figure in Herram.
